


Duet Scene

by Cryptic_Stories



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Pining, Some theatre jargon, Theatre, that's the bit, they're theatre gays
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23225389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cryptic_Stories/pseuds/Cryptic_Stories
Summary: Virgil enrolls in a theatre class upon his therapist's recommendation in order to confront some of his anxiety in a healthy and supportive environment. There, he encounters his crush of several years: the handsome (and completely clueless drama queen) Roman. They are assigned as partners for a duet scene, completely up to their own design.Virgil just wants to survive without getting humiliated.Roman has plans to finally get something off his chest.Chaos ensues.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 28
Kudos: 83





	1. Prologue

“There’s something wrong with me, Picani. Normal people don’t shudder with fear at the thought of speaking to their neighbor. _Normal_ people don’t have a panic attack in the bathroom when they have to give a _five minute presentation_.”

“Virgil,” Dr. Picani said, pushing up his glasses. “We’ve talked about saying ‘normal people.’” Virgil grimaced and drew his legs further to his chest. “You _are_ pretty normal, especially in regards to public speaking.”

“Sure.”

“It’s true. There are millions of people who suffer with the same ailment as yourself. And speaking of which—”

“Please, not this again. Anxiety Anonymous is not going to happen.”

“Nice nickname, but I wasn’t actually referencing that,” Picani said with a slight grin growing on his face. 

“Then what?” Virgil said, his eyes flicking over to Picani’s desk to make a momentary judgement before returning to their spot on the floor.

“I was going to talk to you about theatre.”

“Picani, I am not—”

“Virgil. You have been shutting out all options for improvement. Now, out of all the ways I’ve suggested so far to help ease your speaking anxiety, this one would be the easiest way to do it.”

“Easy for you to say,” Virgil muttered. 

“Yes, because it’s what worked to me when I was in your place.” Virgil blinked, his head turning slowly towards Dr. Picani. _That got his attention_. 

“I thought therapists were…I don’t know, not mentally imbalanced?” He shrugged.

Picani raised a brow. “Again with the depreciation, Virgil?”

“Sorry. I thought…all therapists didn’t have to deal with the stuff we deal with.”

“Well, that’s a myth. I struggled with anxiety, especially when I was your age. Theatre didn’t fix my problems, but it helped. Significantly.” Picani paused for a moment before continuing. “Would you like to give it a try? If it doesn’t work, I can contact your high school and see what I can do about dropping the c—”

“I’ll do it.”

Picani grinned. “Glad to hear it.”


	2. Random Allocation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two months into the theatre class, Virgil starts to get the hang of things. That is, until the duet scenes begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thanks for dropping by to check out this work! I will warn that there is some cursing in this chapter that may or may not be appropriate for the younger readers.

_Two months later…_

“Well, congrats to everyone on your second solo performances of the semester! Although I’d love to take some time to celebrate, we need to get right along into our next unit: duet scenes. The gist is that you’ll be working with someone through the whole process of finding, creating, and performing a scene together. I want to see how you can build off of each other’s chemistry. In the acting work force you’ll need to know how to do all of that with anyone, so for this assignment you’re going to draw a name out of a hat. The person’s name who you draw will be your partner. Obviously if you draw your own name, you can re-draw. Everyone ready?” Mr. Dalton, the acting professor, said excitedly. 

Virgil shifted awkwardly in his seat, his eyes drifting over the rest of the class. He wanted to be excited—theatre _was_ proving to be somewhat fun after all—but he couldn’t. His stomach churned as he imagined having to work with someone he probably didn’t know. _What if they think my acting sucks? What if I bring down the level of their performance? This is going to be terrible. They’re going to hate m—_

“Virgil, come on up!”Virgil froze for a second, glancing at the people watching him. _Too many people. Too many. They’re going to watch me as I cross the room, too._ He stood up abruptly, urging his legs to carry him across the room and trying to ignore the eyes he felt on his back. 

It wasn’t that the kids in his class weren’t nice—they were, seriously—but he only _knew_ knew two of them: Patton and Logan. If he didn’t get paired with one of them, he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to open up like he had done for his solo scenes.

Mr. Dalton had told Virgil that he was a brilliant actor, able to transfer raw feeling into a single motion on the stage. But Virgil didn’t feel that that was true. The first solo scene had been _about_ an anxious man, so he hadn’t had to try all that hard. Getting onto the stage and shaking to the point where you couldn’t hold a glass of water wasn’t an act in that scene. And the second solo scene…Virgil was sure it was just the anxiety medication he took that had made him able to perform the modern adaptation of Hamlet’s “Rogue and Peasant Slave” soliloquy. 

The trip across the room seemed to take forever, and when he got there, he hesitated again before reaching his hand into the hat Mr. Dalton had produced. 

_Oh God oh God oh God who is i—_

He froze. 

_No._

_No._

His stomach plummeted as he read off the name. 

“R-Roman Phillips.” Mr. Dalton grinned, either oblivious or ignoring the fact that Virgil’s hands had started to tremor. Virgil turned around to watch his new partner stand up, beaming. He gulped. 

Roman Philips. Of all the people, it had to be _him_. 

Well, there was nothing _wrong_ with Roman, but…he was literally the _best_ actor in the class. Probably in the entire school. _Here you go again, Virgil. You’re just going to keep being the letdown. Your skill is nowhere near where his is. Dude practically lives on the stage. And you break down the moment you set foot on it.  
_

Roman was basically Virgil’s polar opposite. _He_ was popular. _He_ was talented—both in acting and singing. _He_ also happened to be impossibly gorgeous. The dude looked like a model _all the time_ —a fact that had made it increasingly difficult for Virgil to ignore the butterflies in his stomach every time he saw him. 

He couldn’t interpret whatever the butterflies were doing when Roman crossed the classroom to meet him and instantly started pouring ideas for a duet scene all over him. And by the time Roman stopped talking, he realized he hadn’t heard anything the other man had said. 

“W-what?”

“I said, what kind of relationship do you think we should have for the duet scene? I have a million ideas. Also, are you okay with writing our own scene? Most of the plays they have here I’ve already looked through, and they’re _alright,_ but…”

Roman began to ramble on again as if nothing had happened. As if Virgil was not in full Panic Mode. As if he had been friends with Virgil his entire life. 

Which was…nice. Really nice. But it just made the thought of screwing something up all the more worse. 

By the time Mr. Dalton released everyone to draft their scenes, Virgil was dizzy from the overstimulation. He sent one last look of longing to Patton and Logan—of _course_ they had been teamed together—before Roman towed him out of the classroom and into the hallway so they could draft scenes. 

Roman shut the door behind them and whirled around, his eyes glittering. 

“Okay, now we at least have some space to think. So, we never got around to what kind of relationship we should have for the scene. Dalton said he wanted to highlight the chemistry between the two characters, so we should definitely focus on that. What do you want to do?”

_He’s gorgeous and oblivious. At least the oblivious part’s good for me right now_ , Virgil thought, shoving his shaky hands into the pockets of his jeans. 

“I—I don’t know. Do you have any, uh. Any ideas? I guess I’m not sure where to start,” Virgil stuttered, avoiding eye contact with his partner. 

“Hmm…” Roman furrowed his brows for a moment, sliding down against the wall in the hallway until he sat down. Virgil stood awkwardly for a second before following suit. Suddenly Roman’s eyes lit up again and he turned to Virgil. “Okay, okay. What if we did a scene where the two of us are friends. Like, _really_ close friends.” Virgil gulped. “And over the course of the scene they are talking and they realize they actually have legitimate feelings for each other? Isn’t that great?”

Virgil paled. 

“It would be great to highlight the chemistry between out acting skills! And, I mean, no one else is going to think of it. Even if they do, they’re not going to actually _do_ it. Most of the kids in this class—no offense, of course—but they’re sort of ruled by their comfort zones. They don’t want to take the risky scenes. But you’re literally the only other person in this class besides myself that’s taken a risky scene and done really well with it. I mean, that ‘Rogue and Peasant Slave’ soliloquy was awesome! I think you and I could pull it off. What do you say?”

Virgil opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. _How the hell am I supposed to respond to that???_ _First he wants to do an openly. gay. scene. with_ ME. _And then he compliments me on my acting skill?? I’m a horrible actor! I’m just going to let him down._

Roman furrowed his brows. “Are you…okay?” _Oh,_ NOW _he notices._

“Y—yeah. Sorry. I’m sorry. I just—uh.”

Roman bit his lip, forming the next question carefully. “Are you…uncomfortable with gay people?” _SHIT he took that the wrong way shit shit shit shit—_

“No! No. I’m—gay.” Roman stared back at him blankly for a second as Virgil realized what words had just come out of his mouth.

_WAIT NO YOU WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO TELL HIM THAT—_

“Oh, really?” Roman grinned. “Same here.”   
  


_Hold the fuck up. WHAT?_

Virgil’s cheeks were burning and he was pretty sure his heart had just stopped, but if Roman noticed, he didn’t make any indication of it. 

_YOU JUST CONFESSED YOUR SEXUALITY TO A GUY WHO YOU BARELY KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OH GOD HE’S GOING TO MAKE FUN OF YOU LATER EVERYONE WILL KNOW YOUR SOCIAL LIFE IS SCREWED NO GUY WILL EVER TALK TO YOU AGAIN—_

“So are you still okay with that scene?”

Virgil couldn’t process the emotional rollercoaster that had been the last ten minutes. He didn’t even realize until seconds later how he responded.

“Y-yeah. It sounds great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for stopping by! Leave a kudos and a comment for me! :D


	3. Planning Day 1!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman gets overexcited and Virgil goes into Gay Panic Mode for the third(or maybe seventh?) time this week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I know it's been a while, and this work has kinda been on the backburner, but I'm excited to finally post on this fic again! Yay!
> 
> Warning for a little bit of cursing.

Virgil sat down next to Patton and Logan on the grass field just outside the school building.

“ _Fuck me_ ,” He sighed, pressing is face into his hands.

“Profanity,” Patton chided him.

“Are you alright, Virgil?” Logan asked calmly, without taking his attention away from the orange he was peeling.

“Next class is theatre.”

“Yes?” Logan said, raising a brow.

“ _Roman_ is in theatre,” Virgil added pointedly. “I am going to die from the damn heart palpitations.”

“I thought you had a crush on him, Virge?” Patton said through a mouthful of cookie.

“I _do,_ that’s the problem.”

“I do not understand,” Logan said. “Aren’t most usually excited to see and interact with the person they are attracted to? Why should this not be the case for you?”

“Because he…my anxiety is always heightened when I’m around him. Before it was just because, I don’t know, he just made me get butterflies. Butterflies with anxiety and a caffeine high. But now…I’m worried I’m going to mess something up and look stupid in front of my crush. Do you know how many opportunities there are for it to happen? I could trip over a prop and fall on my face. Or I could have a panic attack and he’d just watch as I started bawling like a two year old—”

“Virgil.”

“Do you know what I did last class? I slipped and told him I was gay. How do you slip on something that important? I’ve been successfully closeted for almost four years now and I just _slipped_. If that came out that easily, what else could I accidentally say? I’m going to sound like an idiot and there’s nothing I could do about it.”

“Virgil.”

“What?”

Logan tipped his head forward, gesturing to something behind him. Virgil turned around to see…

Oh, it wasn’t something. It was someone.

“Hey Virgil!” Roman said with his signature grin. Virgil blinked twice, shooting a quick glance back at his friends.

“H-hey.” _Oh God, how much of that little gay rant did he hear? I’m screwed. I’m so screwed…_

“I was wondering if we could talk about our duet scene? I know we said we weren’t going to work on it until next class _buut_ I kind of had a lot of ideas and could you take a look at them to see if you like them?” Roman said quickly, handing over a notebook and seating himself directly next to Virgil.

“I—uh, sure. Yeah,” Virgil managed, taking the notebook so he had somewhere to avert his eyes. He could’ve sworn he saw Patton smirking at him, but he wouldn’t acknowledge that if he did.

_Woah…his handwriting is so pretty._ Subconsciously Virgil ran a finger over the curved, cursive lettering that covered the page as he read through the notes Roman had written.

* * *

_Romeo: 17 y/o, descent from Spain. Large family, generally extroverted, lives in an apartment complex in upper part of Florida with his family. Gay, but not out to his family and not really out to himself_

_Vincent: 17 y/o, descent (?). Only child, introverted (we want to have contrast to show the chemistry thing), maybe lives in apartment complex (up to Virgil). Gay, he knows but he's not out. Does Romeo know? He could be played as aware of his crush on Romeo or oblivious. _

_How did they meet?_

_Same apartment complex or same school, or both. Carpooling? Raised together (how long have they lived near each other??)_

* * *

“Why Spain, may I ask? For your character background.”

“Porque soy de España,” Roman grinned. _Great, he’s bilingual on top of everything else_. _Why does he have to be the literal embodiment of perfection_?

“That’s…that’s really cool.”

“Thanks,” Roman said. They held eye contact for a moment before Virgil snapped out of whatever trance he had been in and returned his eyes to the paper.

“So, uh, in terms of names…we’re keeping the first letter of our real names?”

“Yeah. Keeping the names close to our own helps me to make the transition into a character’s mind. Of course, these names aren’t final, you can change them if you want to. I just thought…y’know.”

“You named yourself Romeo like “Romeo and Juliet”?” Virgil quirked a brow at the irony.

“Well, in part, yes. It was also my grandfather’s name. And he was also, well. Like us,” Roman said, shooting a quick glance at Logan and Patton. Virgil blinked.

“What about Vincent? Where’d that come from?”

“Well, I was trying to think of names that started with V and my mind first shot to Vincent van Gogh, the painter. And Vincent is just a very pretty name…” Roman trailed off, grinning at some patch of sky Virgil couldn’t see. Virgil bit his lip, trying to shove down the blush playing on his cheeks.

The passing period bell rung out, echoing across the grass. Patton and Logan, engaged in their own conversation, began to stand up, and Virgil was quick to follow suit.

“Can I walk with you?” Roman asked. “Uh, since we’re both going to theatre?”

“Y-yeah.”

——

“Okay, before we move on to writing any script stuff we should establish the setting. The characters we’re working with already need to be emotionally close because the feelings have to be _strong._ And that takes time. So we want to be in a place they’ve probably already been before. Since they’re close friends,” Roman murmured. Virgil watched him tap the end of his pen on his chin, staring down at the paper and already deep in thought. It took him a second to realize Roman had stopped talking and was waiting for him to respond.

“Uh—I mean…” Virgil frowned. _C’mon, Virgil, you have to contribute something. Or he’ll think you’re useless and he won’t want to work with you and then you’ll just look stupid while you let your stupid crush fester in some corner—_ “We probably can’t do a public space. Since—since it would be hard to act like there’s a bunch of people who are there. I mean, it’s been done, but…I don’t think it’s executed very well. O-one of the options is one of our—uh, the character’s rooms, but I’m not sure if that would cause the scene to fall flat because just being there lacks much drive for action and something would have to spur them talking about their feelings. Oh! What about one of those f…family gatherings…uh, am I going on a tangent?” Virgil said, doing a double take when he caught sight of Roman’s expression.

The dude’s eyes practically glittered with interest, a grin appearing at the corner of his mouth. “No! No, you’re bringing up a really good point, Virgil. It’s just you make this really cute face when you go on a rant,” he said with a giggle. Virgil froze.

_WHAT??? DID HE JUST CALL ME CUTE???  
_

_  
Virgil, BREATHE, it was probably just a slip. Or he’s making fun of you. Yeah, he’s probably making fun of you because you look stupid when you talk too much. Damn it, Virgil, this is why you need to keep your mouth shut._

Roman didn’t seem to notice the awkward silence that passed by as Virgil tried to remember how to breathe—instead, he kept talking, writing ideas as he went. “Okay, so Romeo and Vincent are at a family gathering. Maybe their families live near each other’s in an apartment complex? But like you said, we want to get them alone—Oh! I know! It’s a really crazy, loud party and Vincent gets overwhelmed—you’re really good at acting anxious, so it should definitely be you—”

“Uh—”

“And then Romeo will take Vincent to his room so they can get away from the noise,” Roman said. He gasped suddenly, twisting so he was facing Virgil completely. “Oh my gosh! Wouldn’t that be the perfect way to introduce how they care about each other but as more than friends?”

_Damn it why does he have to be so cute when he’s happy?? This is just unfair._

“Uh, yeah, that sounds great!” Virgil managed to say. _C’mon Virgil, breathe, you’re too young to have a heart attack right now_. _But, like, how has he not noticed that my face is bright red?? Oh, right, his only fatal flaw is being oblivious as f—_

“Ahh! This is going to be so fun! I can’t wait!” Roman squealed, ignoring the look of a student walking by in the hall. “I already have some ideas for dialogue that I think we could use, too—”

“Woah, man, don’t get too far ahead—we have to talk about the physical setting too. The lights and props and stuff,” Virgil stuttered out, holding out a hand. He grinned at Roman’s excitement despite himself.

“Oh, you’re right! I always get so excited about the lines,” Roman sighed, clasping his hands together not unlike a Disney princess. Or a prince, maybe. _He is sorta like a Disney prince,_ Virgil thought, a small laugh escaping his lips.

“Don’t worry, Princey, we could always split up the work if you wanted. Set design—er, mapping out my physical surroundings comes a lot easier for me anyways. If, uh, you wanted to work on the lines right now?” Virgil said slowly, fidgeting with the edge of his sleeve. Roman hopped up suddenly, extending a hand to Virgil. Virgil stared at it for a second before reaching out tentatively and grabbing it, surprised when Roman tugged him to standing as if he weighed nothing.

“That would be _great_! Oh my gosh, we’re going to make such a great team!” Roman said, just as the bell rang. “Here, let me give you my phone number before you leave so we can keep in touch!” He added, scribbling it down quickly on the corner of his notebook paper and tearing it off. Virgil tried to ignore the internal chant of _“he’s giving you his phone number, he’s giving you his freaking phone number!!!_ ” as Roman handed the paper over. He gave his purple-and-black clad friend one last wave goodbye before gathering up his bookbag and walking away. Virgil, dazed, waved about five seconds after Roman had turned around, his eyes wide as he tried to process what had just happened.

_He called you cute and gave you his phone number. Holy SHIT._

_Oh, Virgil, you are royally screwed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! <3


	4. Brainstorming Session

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil gets lost in thought...multiple times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some mild cursing in this chapter but not much else. 
> 
> Hope you're ready for some tooth-rotting fluff.

Virgil wasn’t in too deep.

No.

He wasn’t.

Or, at least, that’s what he told himself after nearly three hours of sketching set designs. He didn’t want to admit that it had felt like mere minutes. Or that most of the time sketching, his mind had been filled with his own daydreaming about a particular prince-like dude whose phone number just so happened to be in his contact info now.

Not that he had the guts to text him.

Not that…three hours of set design had also served as a way to _avoid_ texting him.

Nah.

Really, Virgil realized, he had never been so invested in a project and motivated to see it through as he was with this. It was a strange feeling, the pure buzz of energy in his mind as he fit together the perfect pieces to make a decent set.

Mr. Dalton had given each of the pairs the parameters of the stage so that they could ensure they fit all of their props and stage directions in, and so that the actors were sure they were maximizing the space they had. The simple sketch on graph paper that Virgil decided was his finished product was fairly simple—a bed (Virgil knew the theatre department had one in the prop storage room), a nightstand and lamp (more for aesthetic than anything), a chair and desk (which Virgil realized might end up being a table, due to prop availability). It took the longest time for Virgil just to find out where everything would fit for the perfect effect and maximum view of the characters. Yeah, it was simple, but Virgil decided that it would pin the focus more on the characters than on the set. Which he was pretty sure Roman would appreciate.

_Roman_. _Right._

He had to send the eccentric theatre kid a picture of the set design sooner rather than later. Tonight, in fact. They were going to see each other in person tomorrow, but Virgil realized it would help with Roman’s scriptwriting process.

_Chill out. It’s not even that big of a deal. You just text a picture, tell him what it is, done. Two texts. He can’t possibly surmise that you’re an awkward dork from two text messages_!

He sighed, reluctantly taking a picture of his masterwork on graph paper, a sudden wave of doubt coursing through his mind.

_What if he thinks it’s lame? What if he thinks my art skills suck or he wants more stuff or it’s just not good enough or—_ He shook his head. _You’re either going to show him tonight over text, or in person. Tomorrow._

_Okay, I definitely do_ not _want him to tell me I suck in person,_ he thought, opting for the lesser of two evils.

He typed in Roman’s name, watching as the contact popped up. He shot over a quick text with the picture attached before he could change his mind.

_‘Hey. This is Virgil Morris. I sketched out a draft of the set design and I just wanted to see what you thought?_ ’

Pressing “send”, he exhaled sharply. _See? That didn’t need to be so hard. He probably won’t even see it until tomorrow and even he’ll just send you a tex—_

The phone screen lit up with a buzz.

**_Incoming FaceTime call from Roman Phillips…_ **

Virgil most definitely did _not_ screech in shock.

_Whatthehellwhatthehellwhatthehellwhatthehellwhatthehellwhatthehell—oh jeez is my room clean enough? Do I look okay? Shit pick up pick uuuuuup!_

Virgil’s shaky hand pressed “accept” before he could go back. He tilted the phone camera to his face, attempting to find an angle that would look at least decent without showing off too much of his room while he waited for the call to connect. _Am I thinking about this too much?? Nah._

Suddenly Roman’s face popped up, and to say he lit up the screen would be an understatement. He was positively _radiant_ , grinning from ear to ear as he answered the call. He appeared to be in his own room, probably at a desk of some sort. There was a pencil tucked behind his left ear in a way that was somehow just right, though Virgil couldn’t quite describe it.

“Hi Virgil!!” He almost shouted in excitement. Virgil could only stare back in awe, his mouth unable to function properly and form words. “I saw your set design and I just wanted to say I love it so much! It’s so simple which will help so much with focusing on the message as a whole. You are such a good artist oh my GOODNESS. I’m so glad you texted me, I was just working on a rough draft of the script and…”

Roman talked on for nearly fifteen minutes without interruption about his plans for the script and how the characters were going to interact. At that point, Virgil had leaned forward on the palm of his hand and just watched. Watched Roman’s eyes twinkle with excitement at each new development, watched the way he bit his lip and furrowed his brows while he was concentrating on writing something. Watched as he completely forgot about the pencil behind his ear and dug out another one from an offscreen pencil jar. Virgil nearly snickered at that one, but he didn’t want to throw the dude off his brainstorming game.

The rapid beating of Virgil’s heart was beginning to slow as he realized Roman wasn’t at all asking him to talk, wasn’t asking him to put himself out there for him. It seemed like Roman simply wanted company to discuss his ideas. Which was…nice. Not being obligated to talk.

_Damn it, as if Roman needed to get any cuter_.

It was only when Roman’s eyes flicked from the notebook he had been writing the script in back up to the screen that he noticed Virgil was just watching, and his verbal train of thought trailed off.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, I was rambling, wasn’t I?”

Virgil huffed, barely concealing a grin. “Nah, Princey, you’re good. If talking your ideas out works best for you, then go for it. I’m not busy. Besides, it’s pretty adorable,” he said, before realizing the words that had just slipped out of his mouth. _SHIT!_ _There goes the keeping-your-pulse-under-control thing._ “I—I mean, it’s neat. I don’t get to see people work out their thoughts like that usually and it’s, uh, it’s helpful. Bouncing ideas off each other, and stuff.”

_SHIT SHIT SHIT ABORT MISSION ABORT MISSION!!_

“Oh!” Roman said, scratching the back of his neck. Virgil pretended not to see the pinkish haze that appeared on the thespian’s cheeks, writing it off as a trick of the light. “Thank you, Virgil. That’s—that’s really sweet. Most people find it annoying,” he chuckled nervously.

“Nah, it’s not annoying,” Virgil said, earning him a sheepish grin from his teammate. He swallowed, unsure of what to say. “Uh, so you were saying about Vincent’s background? You wanted him to figure out he was gay during a therapy session?”

Roman’s eyes lit up like stars on a clear night, and Virgil’s heart skipped a beat. The thespian eagerly resumed his brainstorming session as if it had never stopped.

Virgil suppressed a dreamy sigh as Roman chatted away the evening. An hour passed by of his brainstorming, with Virgil only throwing in the occasional comment or suggestion. He watched Roman flip through pages of his little notebook, and he even spotted a couple doodles along the margins that were just so _him_ , somehow.

It was odd—all this time Virgil had a crush on Roman, and he had always felt like he was in the background of Roman’s mind (if he had even existed there at all). Roman was this talented kid surrounded by other talented friends; he was popular, composed. And it wasn’t to say he wasn’t these things, but here…all of a sudden Virgil felt welcome. Special, even, if he was brave enough to admit it.

And he was so much more than a popular kid. The fanciful dreamer that was a little forgetful at times was equally present. And Virgil was hopelessly, _hopelessly_ crushing on him, imperfections and all.

  
  
Speaking of which, Roman had just stuck his second pencil behind the same ear as the other one and was now searching for it.

“Hey, Princey.” Roman turned to the screen. Virgil pointed to his left ear, and Roman lifted his own hand up, blinking with surprise when he felt the pencils touch his hand.

“Oh,” Roman flushed, and Virgil couldn’t help but let out a low chuckle. “How long were those there?”

“Uh, well, the first one has been there the whole time, but you put the second one on about three minutes ago.”

Roman gasped in mock offense. “And you didn’t tell me? Ruuude. Now I have to rewrite your entire character to be the evil villain in disguise!”

“Oh no, how dare you,” Virgil deadpanned, a smile betraying his enjoyment. “I can’t believe I didn’t get away with my _evil plan_.”

Suddenly Roman narrowed his eyes, a smirk appearing on his face. “Or maybe…I was the evil one all along!”

“Oh? And how’s that?” Virgil said, a brow raised.

“I didn’t tell you about the graphite smudge on your cheek! HA!” Roman said with a theatrical cackle.

“WHAT? WHERE?” Virgil flushed, a hand flying to cover his face. Roman couldn’t stop laughing to tell him, and in spite of his embarrassment, Virgil joined in.

It had been a long time since he felt so at ease in front of his crush.

And…it felt nice. Really nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience! Tell me what you think! <3


	5. The Notebook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil overthinks a small gesture and decides he has a bone to pick with a couple deities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! We're back! I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a little longer than normal but I'm proud of the Flustered Virgil Content™
> 
> Warnings: Cursing

“I. Am. A. Fool,” Virgil groaned, bumping his head against the outside of his locker with each syllable.

“You okay there, kiddo? What happened?” Patton asked, looking slightly worried. Virgil sighed, tipping his head back with laboriously before finally unlocking his locker door.

“He FaceTimed me last night,” Virgil mumbled into his locker, hoping against all hope that Patton wouldn’t hear it.

“Aww! That’s so cute!” _Well. Hope has failed me._ “What has you all…er, hot and bothered?”

“I’m not—” Virgil stopped himself, realizing that his cheeks were, in fact, quite warm. Even if he _was_ currently hiding his face behind the locker door so Patton couldn’t see. “It’s just—he doesn’t even have to _try_ to be cute. He just _is._ It’s infuriating. All I did was send him the specs to our set design and he _called_ me! _Called_ me, Patton!”

Patton raised a brow, leaning one shoulder against the wall of lockers. “I still don’t see the problem?”

“I—” Virgil grabbed a book from his locker, stuffing it into his bag as he tried to find the right words. “Uhg, it was so embarrassing. He sat there and talked the whole time and I just listened which was fine and that really wasn’t the problem at all but I think I was staring or, like, doing that stupid dreamy face thing at him and I’m pretty sure he noticed and he’s going to think I’m such a dork or a creep or—”

“You’re rambling again, Virge,” Patton said gently. “Trust me, I doubt he thinks you’re a dork. How long was the call?”

“Like, two hours, I think.”

“Two _hours?_ Do you really think he would’ve kept talking to you _that long_ if he thought you were a creep?”

Virgil blinked. “Uh…maybe?”

“Maybe what?” A voice called out suddenly from behind him. Virgil jumped, reflexively slamming his locker shut way louder than he had to before whirling around to see— _oh, it just HAD to be him, didn’t it? Fuck you too, Fate._

Roman stood almost directly in front of Virgil, the slightly confused look on his face not detracting from his _unfairly_ perfect features. Even his casual clothes—a black sweater with tiny embroidered flower patterns near the top, along with a light blue pair of jeans—made him look put together. The opposite of Virgil’s messy hair and the overall “uncoordinated gay emo” look he sported.

And damn, Roman looked good in black.

Virgil was definitely not blushing. He was not, stop looking at him like that.

“Oh, hey, Roman, we were just talking about something else!” Patton rushed. Roman raised a brow. Virgil groaned internally.

“What?”

“We were just talking about something…and, uh…nothing else?” Virgil shot Patton a warning glance, but Roman just laughed.

“Well, I’m intrigued. I’d love to hear more about ‘something else’ if we had time,” Roman said, winking at Virgil. _He winked. HE WINKED!!_ “But unfortunately I have to head to class. I just wanted to give you this, Virgil.” He dug into his shoulder bag and produced a notebook—no, not _a_ notebook, _THE_ notebook he had seen over their call last night. “I know I was rambling on about the script forever last night, but would you mind reading over it again before class? I want to make sure it’s not too…klunky. And then if you have any alterations, we can talk about them during class and maybe stage some stuff?”

Virgil stared at _the_ notebook for a moment, a million thoughts buzzing through his head. _He’s trusting me with his personal stuff? That notebook has way more than just the script in it. Okay, uh, I have to make sure I don’t violate his privacy, maybe I should ask what page it’s on. No, wait, is that dorky? Would he think I’m stupid? Oh jeez what do I do—_

“Virge? You good there?” Roman asked, and Virgil shook himself out of the daze he was in.

“Y-yeah. Sorry. Uh, thanks,” he said, tentatively taking the notebook from Roman’s hands. He marveled at the way the pages seemed to be bursting with extra paper and writing, evident of the love and care Roman had given it.

“Of course. We’re partners, aren’t we?” Roman responded, elbowing him lightly in the shoulder as he walked off to class. He spun around on his heel a couple of steps away, adding, “Catch you in class, Virge!”

To say Virgil was shocked was an understatement. He was frozen, his mind working overtime to try to process what the hell had just happened. Only Patton finally shaking him—literally—was able to snap him out of his daze.

“What? Sorry.” Patton chuckled, giving Virgil a knowing smile.

“I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know it was _this_ bad,” he said. “You are _sooo_ in love!”

“Patton!” Virgil flushed, trying to hide his face from the passersby in the hallway.

Patton squealed with excitement. “You two would make such a cute couple. He totally likes you!”

Virgil spluttered, his hands fiddling with Roman’s notebook. “N-no, he doesn’t. He’s just being polite. He probably hates me.”

“Okay, that’s just ridiculous. Why would he trust you with something that personal if he hated you?” Virgil swallowed.

“I—I don’t know.” The two minute warning bell resounded above them, and Patton grabbed Virgil’s hand and began towing him along to class.

“All I’m saying is that you two would be cute together~” Patton said in a sing-song voice.

“ _Patton!_ ”

——

By lunchtime Virgil still hadn’t built up the courage to open the notebook, though it had been in his hand all day before that (he didn’t want to leave it in his locker for fear that someone might break in, because _you never know!_ ).

((And definitely not for other reasons. Obviously.))

Holding the notebook felt like Virgil was holding a piece of Roman, and Virgil wasn’t quite sure why that motion in itself felt so _intimate_. It was a simple, casual gesture on Roman’s part. Virgil was positive it wasn’t meant as anything more, which simultaneously relieved and disappointed him.

He turned the notebook over in his hands once more. It smelled like leather and redwood and some sort of spice Virgil couldn’t identify. Virgil half wondered if Roman smelled the same way, but that only led to him wondering how he would ever find himself in a position to find out and he shut down that train of thought pretty quickly.

It was only when he sat down with Patton and Logan on the grassy field just outside that he knew he had to do it—theatre was the next class, and Roman had wanted him to read it beforehand.

“I just don’t don’t know how I should open it without accidentally seeing something private? What if I see some private diary entry and Roman finds out and—”

“Virgil. Just open it from the back and work towards the front,” Logan said flatly.

“Oh.” Virgil mentally slapped himself.“Right. Sorry.”

“Do not be distressed. You were merely expressing a healthy amount of concern, I am sure Roman would be glad to hear that you are being so considerate of his privacy.”

Virgil swallowed and nodded, opening the notebook as Logan had suggested. He flipped backwards through the notebook for about twenty pages before he found Roman’s looping handwriting, alongside several doodles and notes in the margins. The script was almost three page’s worth of notes, and Virgil didn’t dare flip beyond that. Instead, he scanned through the script, a pen in one hand and a carrot in the other as he examined it. Soon whatever Logan and Patton had been discussing was tuned out as Virgil focused in on the swirling and strangely hypnotic writing (and, admittedly, he found himself tracing a couple of the doodles with a light finger).

There were a few places where the dialogue jumped back and forth a little more than Virgil thought would sound natural, and he marked those off with his pen to run over in class. But for the most part, Roman’s work had been…what’s the word? Artful? Natural? Downright perfect?

But it was Roman. So he supposed that was to be expected.

The last thing Virgil hesitated on was near the end of the script. Something felt… _off_ about the climactic moment, but he couldn’t put a finger on it. He decided after a minute that it was probably just the awkwardness surrounding that entire scene that was making him want to get in and edit parts of it out.

_I mean, this entire scenario is kind of ridiculous. Roman wants me to do a scene with him about romance and love and reciprocated feelings, and here I am, in love with him even though he probably doesn’t feel the same way. The gods of irony must be laughing their asses off right now._

As he contemplated what he might’ve done to put the gods of irony in such a vengeful mood, the bell rung. Virgil snapped out of his trance, blinking at his half eaten lunch for a second before he was able to stand up and pull everything together. Patton and Logan waited patiently for him as he stumbled to his feet. One mumbled apology later, and they were walking back to the school building. Virgil gripped the notebook firmly in his hand, the scent of the pages lingering in his nose.

Off to see Roman, then.

A jab of anxiety hit as Virgil contemplated the possibility that Roman would just outright hate all of his edits and he’d yell and disown him as a theatre partner, or, even worse, that Virgil would hurt Roman’s feelings by critiquing his writing.

It didn’t get better when the trip reached the drama room and Roman was already there, bubbling over about something or other with some other person Virgil barely knew. Valentine, was it? No—Valerie, maybe. He brushed it off, shaking his head.

Of course Virgil would be the one that might crush that excited, perfect smile with his stupid comments.

_I can’t wait_ , he thought bitterly, settling into one of the seats with even more worry twisting in his gut.

Just as the final bell rung, Roman dropped himself into the seat right next to Virgil, smirking when the emo jumped in surprise. Virgil had gotten lost in his own thoughts again, enough that he didn’t even notice Roman approaching until he was right there.

“Hey, Virge. Did you get a chance to read the script?” He asked as Mr. Dalton stood from his desk and made his way to the center of the room.

“Uh—yeah. Your writing was really good, I mostly just starred a couple places where the wording felt a little unnatural? But it really wasn’t much. I liked it,” He rushed, holding out the notebook.

If Virgil was being hopeful, he might’ve thought that Roman spent just a second too long with his hand brushing across Virgil’s as he took back the notebook. He stole a glance at Roman to see if he was imagining things.

And when he looked at Roman, his partner was already staring right back, a fond _(fond??? holy shit.)_ grin playing on his face.

“Hey class, welcome back!” Mr. Dalton exclaimed, interrupting their moment. Virgil’s head snapped forward, cheeks burning. He felt Roman’s gaze linger for a second or two more before he, too, returned his attention to Mr. Dalton.

_Holy shit holy shit holy shit he was looking at me!!_

_What does that mean? Does it mean anything?_ Virgil couldn’t wipe the look Roman had been giving him out of his mind, despite his best attempts to pay full attention to Mr. Dalton’s short speech. He ended up only able to catch snippets of it.

“…And if any groups are ready, the stage is open today for people to rehearse parts of their script! If you’re still writing, I advise staying in here or in the hall to work so those who need to rehearse can do so. Alright, folks, let’s get to work on your scenes! You have the class to work, I’ll be here or at the stage if you need me.”

As soon as Mr. Dalton was done, the room became loud with chatter and the rustling of papers as people set to work. Virgil turned to ask Roman where they should go, but Roman had already shot to his feet, his notebook and a pencil in hand.

“Did you want to go anywh—”

“The stage! C’mon, we’ll be the first people there if we go now!” Roman whispered excitedly, tucking the pencil behind his ear. Virgil stood, prepared to follow Roman down to the stage, but it seemed Roman had other plans. He took the emo’s hand in his own and practically dragged him out into the halls and towards the stage. Virgil prayed that Roman hadn’t heard his squeak of surprise at the sudden contact.

He would never admit that he kind of liked it. Or that he was disappointed when Roman took his hand away.

He had a reputation to uphold, after all. And he was determined to keep it, even if this particular thespian with a limited conception of personal boundaries really tested it.

The wide open stage was completely empty, with only a couple of the lights illuminating the very front. Roman slowed as they approached the center, the smile growing on his face. He took a deep breath and stretched his arms over his head as if he had just woken up.

Virgil definitely did not stare when the sweater lifted just a little bit higher than Roman had probably intended and exposed just a little bit of skin.

“Ah! I’m so excited to finally act this out, aren’t you?” Roman spun around, arms dropping to his sides.

Virgil chuckled, avoiding Roman’s eyes. “It’s only been like, four days of planning, Princey.”

Roman pouted. “But it’s _exciting_!”

“Yeah, I have to admit I’m pretty excited too,” Virgil said softly, his voice almost absorbed by the vast space in front of them. His heart must’ve been beating at mock three at that point as he realized it was just the two of them in the entire stage.

Anything could happen.

Anything.

_Or nothing,_ He thought suddenly, shoving aside whatever he had been thinking.

“Well, uh, wanna work on the first part?” Virgil fiddled with the sleeve of his hoodie.

“Oh! Yeah. Where was it at?” Roman said with a start. Virgil swallowed, stepping towards his partner. After glancing at Roman for permission, he took the notebook again and opened it from the back, flipping forward until he found the second page of the script.

“So, uh, right here the wording feels a little uneven. It was mostly just fixing my dialogue section because I want to make sure it flows evenly?” He said slowly, pointing it out for Roman. Roman, who was now leaning just over Virgil’s shoulder and causing the latter man’s face to heat up.

_If I drop dead from a heart attack, I’m blaming it on this dude_ , he thought as they started working on the scene.

_Roman Phillips is going to be the death of me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to leave a kudo and a comment if you enjoyed it! <3


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